Old Barn auctions

[Gunsil]

Just a note that Old Barn Auctions of Findlay, OH has another auction coming up featuring another round of fake bowie knives. DO NOT bid on ANY of them, they are ALL fakes!! I wish there was something that could be done to expose these rats. I'd write a bad review but it seems I need a google account to do so and I do not wish to get on google's lists. There is a woman on ebay selling her recently deceased fathers collection and the poor guy got burned for tens of thousands of dollars over several years by Old Barn. At least she is selling them as probable "fantasy" knives which they are. Gilbert Cooper is also selling some for her on ebay and he does state they ARE "fantasy" knives. Hard to believe there seems no way to stop such an unscrupulous auction house from scamming hard earned money from so many people. If any off you have interests in old bowies at least if you study those in the auction you may learn more about fakes. I will gladly field any questions as to why any of the individual knives are fakes.

Here's a link to the auction: https://www.invaluable.com/catalog/esrm0booz2

[kootenay joe]

Has 'Old Barn' had these made for their auctions ? Or, how did they come to have so many fake Bowie knives and zero authentic ones ?
It would be a great learning opportunity to present a few of these Bowies here and explain the features that show it to be a fake.
I have been around 'knives' quite a bit but i cannot tell a fake Bowie from an authentic one.
What about the other items like old single shot pistols, are these also fake ?
kj

[Gunsil]

Roland, if you look closely at these knives most of them have home carving knife set handles and the handles are usually more slender for blade size than a real bowie would have. then look closely at the maker's marks, the marks are all in the same font or lettering style on most of them no matter what maker is marked, and the marks appear to be cold stamped. Most of these have VERY similar scabbards, on originals most companies scabbards would be different and early bowies had a cardboard covered with a thin leather veneer scabbard. The set with the pistol, knife and other items is a "put together", such things are fantasies. So are any "prostitutes" sets you see in a fitted case with a garter and perfume bottle, total fantasies. All "Tiffany" bowies with the oval Tiffany New York stamp are fakes.

Regarding the pistols, most are probably right, I haven't examined them nor do I know as much about pistols as knives. The "Native American" beaded stuff is all fake or modern as are the tomahawks. I have learned that most of these fantasy or fake bowies were made by a guy named Tommy Goff from TX who passed away seven years back. You can google him, he also made bowie type knives with his own mark on them. I have no idea why Old Barn would be the epicenter for sales of these knives, but I have seen these similar Goff fakes in antique malls in OH, and when I see them on ebay sometimes and have notified the owner they had a fake I have been told "it can't be, I bought it from a very reputable auction house in OH". I even see some at knife shows, this guy was a prolific producer. I haven't watched all these auctions, quite possible that some have been returned by unhappy buyers and offered for sale again.

[Kramersknife]

I used to go to an auction in west middlesex pa "Robert Retort auctions" tons of fake knives beads and arrowheads from "the Ohio Valley" he doesn't do them anymore.I bid on one knife found out it was fake and he did accept it back..but seems like "ohio" is the hot spot for this fake crap I cant believe people buy this stuff at such high prices..I feel they just dump them on ebay right after they buy them.